Learning the history of ancient peoples, we find that the decoration’s purpose was to bring order and functionality to space, and then, when practical needs were met, also, a living environment’s aesthetically improving.
We have great examples of aesthetic layout designs from countries of the east, China, Japan and Mesopotamia, from Egypt too and of course from Minoan Crete and Mycenae.
So, slowly in classical Greece, decoration has emerged as an art.
Ilias Boudouris
The New York Times – USA